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Welcome to Salad Week 2014: Mendocino Farms’ Chinese Chicken Salad

We’re turning a new leaf on Midtown Lunch: Los Angeles this week. You’ve been asking for it, and we finally listened to the desires of the typical L.A. luncher. Welcome to Salad Week 2014!!! Every day this week I plan to eat a healthy and delicious salad for lunch and post about it right here. And to kick things off… meet Mendocino Farms’ Chinese Chicken Salad.

Even though lunchtime salads and I haven’t always gotten along, there has always been a special place in my heart for the Chinese chicken salad. Crunchy things are a necessity in any bowl of vegetables I’m going to make my lunch, and the best Chinese chicken salads give you double the fun with both crispy wontons and nuts- if you’re lucky. So when I got the email from California’s mini chain Mendo Farms announcing their brand new Chinese chicken salad special I knew it had to be the salad that kicked off Salad Week 2014.

The salad features finely shredded cabbage, bright spinach, mixed greens from Scarborough Farms, cilantro, scallions, and a wonderfully toothsome free range chicken breast, topped with almonds AND crispy wontons for that perfect mouthfeel. The miso mustard dressing is very well balanced as well, sweeter than Tender Greens but not as cloyingly sweet as a lot of the bad Chinese chicken salads around town. Plus if you ask for your salad to be tossed behind the counter, they don’t over do it, so don’t be afraid to ask! All in all, it’s a great salad and I wouldn’t be surprise to see it added to the permanent menu. A perfect kick off to Salad Week 2014…